Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, fired last year by President Donald Trump, claimed the president does not listen to his lawyers and would talk to FBI special counsel Robert Mueller if asked — for better or worse — "because that's what he does."
"What I believe is that the president doesn't listen to his lawyers," Bharara told ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos.
"[If this] gentleman — who is a very stable genius, he tells us — was listening to his lawyers, there's lots and lots of stuff that he would not have done, said, tweeted – you know? So here's a person who wants to defend himself. He does it through the platform of Twitter on a daily basis. And he said he wants to talk to the special counsel's office. And if they make the request or say we're available for you to talk to us, it seems untenable not to do it."
Bharara said it will not matter to Mueller or his staff if Trump does talk or not, though, because law enforcement can "go on their merry way" to build a case regardless.
"They go on their merry way and they decide to make a case or not make a case," Bharara told ABC. "I don't think it matters all that much to them, depending on what kinds of things they're looking at. Usually, there are two reasons you want to talk to a target close to the end: One is to afford them the opportunity — them and their lawyers — to explain to you why you may have it wrong. . . . I think in a case like this, they're going to have all the facts that they have.
"And they're going to be interested in wanting to hear from the president if he wants to talk to them."
Specifically on the obstruction of justice case, Bharara admitted a case might have to be crafted as a series of circumstances which plausibly "paint a picture" of obfuscating potential collusion with Russia in the 2016 election.
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